


A blade of grass swaying to the wind of your flute

by Metakit



Category: Original Work
Genre: Exploration, F/F, Meeting, OCs - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-11-23
Updated: 2019-11-23
Packaged: 2021-02-26 07:49:18
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,157
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21530104
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Metakit/pseuds/Metakit
Summary: Broken ruins, a melody escaping softly from a wind instrument.In the depths of the desert, below the surface, with no one but ourselves as witnesses.Unexpected guest, poor impression. An imprint left in our hearts of each other.
Relationships: Crush/Whistle
Comments: 1
Kudos: 2





	A blade of grass swaying to the wind of your flute

**Author's Note:**

> A small story featuring the meeting between two of my characters.  
> There might be more little stories in the future involving those two, but for now this is what I've written down.

  
An ancient tune written on a forgotten scroll.

A musician searching for lost melodies.

The sound of a flute echoed in the endless sands, a melody very familiar to the one playing it. One that she had played hundreds, if not thousands of times.

Whistle needed no score for it, as if it was ingrained in her very being. A gentle melodious air, although it felt a tad melancholic given her location. She sat atop a cracked pillar of sandstone, damaged by the passage of time. One amongst many scattered around this place, but strangely the only one still standing strong. The wind picked up and brushed the sand against her body, but her concentration would not falter. 

When Whistle was done playing her tune, she pulled out an old scroll that she had found on a previous excursion. It had been a while since she had acquired it in an old broken down library, hidden away between the pages of an unrelated book. It had struck her interest almost instantly, the corner of it peeking out of the book like a bookmark. The scroll itself was tattered and barely legible, a crude drawing of what she believed to be the current location appearing in the corner of it. A single word was featured at the top, which Whistle believed to be the title: "Whisper". Below was no longer words, but rather an arrangement to a short melody. She believed that to honor the author, she had to play it where the scroll implied.

Holding it tightly with her lower set of arms, she prepared her flute once more; ready to attempt the old forgotten tune.

Unlike the melody Whistle had been playing earlier, this one sounded harsh and sharp. Like a hammer hitting a nail ever so deeper into the wood. Every note echoed harder than the previous in the emptiness of the desert. It felt as if the very ground shook beneath her, but once more, she kept focused, her eyes closed as she kept playing. Whistle instinctively held onto the pillar tightly with her legs, having the feeling that she may fall. Not that it would be too much of a deal, considering she can fly, but she'd rather not deploy her wings with in the sandy winds.

Whistle completed the tune, opening her eyes at last. She realized then that it hadn't been just a feeling. The ground had been shaking below her this whole time. New structures had risen up from the ground and what appeared to be a giant gap within a large piece of sandstone stood before her.

"Huh. Seems like the ruins here weren't completely abandoned."

She secured her flute inside her clothes' pocket before hopping off her pillar, slowing her fall with a gentle wing flap. Whistle entered the gap fearlessly; her own adventurous spirit begging to know what laid beyond it. It was exciting to think what could be found in these supposedly desolate holes. There wasn't always something interesting or anything at all, but the very thought of being able to explore such unknown, out of the way locations always sprung her curiosity.

Someone else had also taken notice of the ruin's new appearance. An hour or so after her own descent into the gap, another arrived at the site. This one was not looking for an adventure, instead coming to this place out of habit.

"Different... Wonder if this scared my food away... Hungry... Hungry...!"

Crush was desperate for food. She wanted some now. The old ruins were different from usual and she knew it probably meant something bad. There wasn't any creatures to be found and eaten. The usual skittering of various beings was now gone, the wind hitting the dated structures being all that remained.

She too, had noticed the large gap in the sandstone. She could fit in there, for sure.

"Could my food have escaped in there?" she pondered.

Approaching the gap, an unfamiliar smell instantly caught Crush's attention. It was unlike any she had smelled before, very different, almost sweet. With hunger distracting her thoughts, she couldn't find a better way to describe it in her head besides "delicious" and "would like to have it in my mouth right now".

With thought of a new, intriguing food potentially being down the gap, Crush entered with an empty stomach and haste. Stalking, running... and then pouncing on the source of the smell. Finally, her precious meal, right between her claws--

"Do you mind?"

"Ww. What."

Crush's sharp arms were wrapped around the moth's neck. A quick movement and she's have her meal...but...

"W.w. W-why are you not afraid? I'm about to eat you."

"Stop running your mouth for two seconds. I'm trying to figure out this puzzle. Hmm."

Weird. Most people Crush had ever encountered in her life had run away in fear or screamed as they were being devoured. But this one was completely enthralled by whatever laid in those old ruins. It confused her deeply, enough to distract her from snapping Whistle's neck instantly.

".............."

"How long are you planning to hug me like that? Personal space." Whistle sighed.

"..................."

Without a word, Whistle brought her flute to her mouth and started playing a soothing tune. She didn't want to deal with this stranger right now, but considering the predicament she was in, she didn't have much of a choice. She really wasn't looking to be beheaded on the spot.

The grip lessened as the song kept playing; putting Crush in a trance. She started swaying from left to right, following the rhythm of the music. It was as instinctual as her desire to consume and as such, she could not resist it.

"What a beautiful sound... I can almost forget my worries... My hunger..."

Crush didn't fully understand it, all she knew is how lovely the sound of the flute was. It made her happy like she had never been before. There was something about the soft melody that warmed her heart, moreso than anything else in the world. Never had she heard something like this before, despite having heard plenty of music over the years. Crush oftentimes grew tired of most music, but this one, she could listen to forever. It was sweet in the same way she had first smelled the moth from outside the gap. Only when Whistle spoke that she broke out of music-induced trance:

"Here. You can have some of it."

"What is this?"

"Food. Little creatures from this place, I presume. They got crushed when it rose up."

Then, Crush's desire to eat came back as fast as it had gone. She shoved the food in her mouth with such speed; Whistle didn't think it was even possible to consume food at such a fast pace.

"T..Thank you. I must apologize for trying to eat you earlier... I wasn't thinking."

"You better. I have better things to do than get eaten today, you know."

"And that is?" Crush giggled.

Not amused by the mantis' attempt at a joke; Whistle pointed upwards to a large statue.  
It depicted some sort of creature holding a giant lute; with a dangling strap of colorful jewels going down from the top of the handle. Below the statue were two dozens of slots carved in a pattern. The jewels' shapes seemed to correspond to the slot, although it appeared that the colors needed to be arranged a certain way. A few jewels were already placed in the holes, albeit in a seemingly random way.

"I'm not sure how this works. Not that I can get the rest of them down from there."

"You have wings."

"Maybe so, but I cannot cut down the string."

"Perhaps I can be of assistance? To make up for trying to eat you and... as thanks for feeding me."

"Go ahead."

With a jump, Crush sliced down the chain of jewels, which Whistle caught in her arms. Whistle then attempted to figure out an order, with the mantis watching her curiously from a distance. She was unsure whether or not she could be trusted, after all, she had attempted to cut her head off and eat her moments ago. After a while, the mantis joined her in her endeavor.

"Why do you want to do this puzzle so badly?"

"I feel a need to complete it, now that I'm here in front of it. I don't know how to explain it."

"Do you expect a reward?"

"I never do, after all, it's not what I came here for."

"What did you come here to do?"

"Play a song. I wasn't expecting the ruins to rise when I did."

"So it was you, who scared my prey away. Maybe I should've eaten you after all!" Crush chuckled.

"Very funny. Why are you helping me then?"

"Curious."

"I see."

"I haven't asked yet... but what's your name?"

"Whistle."

"I'm Crush."

"Not surprising."

"Hahahaha."

For hours on end, the two worked together to figure out the arrangement of the jewels. During these long hours, the two had conversations ranging from light banter to speaking of their own interests and life. Crush spoke about her desire to open a butchery, Whistle side-eyeing her on that idea. Someone like her, opening a butchery? She supposed her huge claws would be great for cutting meat. It was mostly her, how to put it, nature when she got hungry that worried Whistle. For a while, Whistle described some of her own past adventures, having been in many different places in her life due to being a traveller. These kind of tales were wondrous to hear for Crush, who had only been to a couple cities in her life. Whistle told about how she had lost her left antennae to a treacherous giant beast, whom had attacked her during an excursion into the Teal Caverns. Having such an exchange was nice, as neither of them had much company in their daily lives. Crush lived alone while Whistle was a lone explorer.

When the last jewel was slotted in, the front of the statue's pedestal shattered open, revealing that there was indeed a reward.

Inside was what appeared to be two logs of fur and a scroll. Crush took the logs and Whistle took the scroll. Observing the logs, Crush deducted they would make a great new addition to her lair. Whistle, on the other hand; found them hideous, much more content in this new scroll she had found. It was much less damaged that the other she owned, although it was still yellowed and creased from age.

Upon reading inside; the melody was hauntingly familiar to the one she had played from the old tattered scroll. It seemed to be a continuation of it.  
This one had no title, although it seemed as if the page had been cropped at some point. Were there more of these mysterious melodies? Whistle needed to know. It was time to part ways with her new friend.

"I've finished here. I have to keep going."

"Go where? Where do you have to go?"

Whistle started walking out of the underground portion and up, to exit through the gap from which she had entered. Crush followed closely, until they were both outside.

"This scroll I found, it adds on to another melody I have. I need to know if there is more like it in the world."

"But..."

"I suppose it's time to say goodbye."

"But...!"

"Goodbye, Crush."

Whistle was already walking away, despite Crush's protest.

"I'm going to miss the sound of your flute..."

Stopping in her tracks, Whistle turned her head around.

"Is that so?"

She seemed amused.

"Yes. Immensely. I'll miss you. I mean, your flute."

"Perhaps I'll come visit again someday."

With those words, Whistle walked away, thinking about Crush's words. Miss her flute, huh... No one had really said something like that to her before. Sure, people liked her music for the most part, but who would miss it so bad as to be concerned about never hearing it again?

What her mind was mostly concerned about, however, was Crush's "I'll miss you". Miss her? Was she not another potential meal? But she could not deny that the time they had spent figuring out the puzzle underground had been quite fun. Whistle found her charming, despite the first bad impression. A passionate fellow, when her hunger wasn't taking over her everything.

Crush returned to her lair, the thoughts of Whistle in her mind, more than anything. No one had left such a strong impression on her before and she admired Whistle's strength of character and dedication. It was going to be lonely again; never had Crush realized how much she appreciated company. She could only hope that Whistle would come back to her someday.  
  
The gentlest of music that made her sway like a blade of grass in the wind could only played by Whistle and no one else.


End file.
